| Stingy Jack |
10-14-2004 05:10 AM |
I just wrote an article for a local paper that took a quick look at how horror movies responded to public fears over the last half-century. And even though I got a couple of good links to comprehensive horror film articles on the web from folks at this site, I basically had to do my own research and analysis connecting the films of each decade to the predominant fears of the nation in each respective decade. Of course, I analyzed only American films/fears -- any more would have been far too much for a newspaper article.
But, upon closing my research, I came to the optimistic conclusion (for horror fans, anyway) that horror films -- and the genre as a whole -- will never "die out", despite arguments to the contrary. It is true that what frightens us today will not necessarily frighten us tomorrow; but authors and filmmakers of horror adapt the genre to speak to whatever is most frightening to the nation at the time. Hence, to write an article on "what makes horror films scary" may be a very daunting task. What makes them scary changes as the fears of the audience change. For example: we, in America, have seen an resurgence of the zombie film in recent years. And even though zombies have been the subject of horror films for over 50 years, this particular type of film is very pertinent to the fears of our nation today -- most notably the fear of terrorism. What frightens us about terrorism is the idea that the enemy is already here, and will one day come out of the woodwork and wreak havoc on the innocent. You can see how the zombie film easily connects to this idea.
Even though horror films change, I think you will find that there are two predominant themes that occur in the genre throughout history: death and the unknown (the second actually encompassing the first, since most of our fears about death are based on not knowing what happens afterward). The only aspects of the genre that really change are the form by which death comes, and what area of the unknown from which it will come.
Some films deal more with the idea of the unknown than they do with death, and such films are more atmospheric and suspenseful (recent examples being The Ring, The Blair Witch Project, and The Sixth Sense). Others, that focus more on death than the actual cause, tend to move a lot quicker and to be much more visceral (any film where the characters are fighting for their own survival at every turn do this, such as the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street series).
I would really like to see what you come up with in your project. Any plans on posting your finds here?
Hope I was of some help.
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